Probably no orchestra anywhere plays new works as convincingly as the Philharmonic under Salonen . . . The Eighth Symphony was an enthusiastic beginning to the evening, Beethoven's wit here cool and dry, his sound from Salonen pressed into something hard and focused. The Seventh, after intermission, was spectacular. This is the symphony that seems closest to the heart of Salonen the composer. Beethoven's rhythmic drive has a counterpart in the machine-gone-wild passages of Salonen's music. Once past the introduction of the first movement, played with glassy stillness, Salonen launched into the rest with the passion of the last moments of "The Rite of Spring," and though the music ebbed and flowed, as Beethoven must, the tension never let up.